A new SEC school has jumped into the race for this sleeper wide receiver from Fayetteville (Ark.) and it’s a potential game changer.

“I’m going to sign Wednesday at 3p.m,” Brad Culp explained. “But I’m not sure who I’m going to sign with because Arkansas might still be offering me.

“I got a call from coach (Bobby) Allen (Monday). He said they would let me know by Wednesday morning if they were going to offer.”

Culp had previously been offered and visited Ole Miss and North Carolina and thought his decision was just going to come down to those two schools.

“(Arkansas) hasn’t offered but they said they lost two receivers today,” Culp explained. “(Allen) said they evaluated me today and watched all my film. I’m supposed to know either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning if I’ll have an offer.

“I’ve visited Arkansas a number of times.”

So is it a foregone conclusion that Culp will sign with the hometown Razorbacks if he gets the offer?

“I couldn’t say that. I’m honestly not sure…I’m confused on where I’m going to go. I’ll have a choice by Wednesday.”

Apparently a lot of that is coming from the kid himself. He is hoping to get an offer and what was conveyed to him was that IF two WR's fell through, we will evaluate his tape. Sounds like he may be drumming up some interest for himself to a NC writer.

So guy that loves raccoons thinks this... 21 commitments. 22-- They want DGB. If they can get him that is their other WR. If he tells them no I have been told they will turn to Javon Williams. 23-- Jordan Diamond gets first shot at OT. If no Diamond expect them to move on Joe Warburg 24-- Seth Jacobs. They want him to the other safety in this class. If no Jacobs, maybe Humes. 25-- It could be Gary Simon, Otha Peters (probably going to UT), Reggie Northrup (not coming), Chris Humes, Robert Gregory ? or maybe one of the others we had in the Offense and defense stories yesterday.

I've seen several posts on here about Arkansas and their fans. Because I grew up in N.W. Arkansas (note: wasn't born there), I wanted to give some insight into the psyche of the Razorback faithful.

Full disclosure: I grew up watching Ark b-ball and f-ball and still consider myself a fan. But being a Mizzou Alum, I will cheer on Mizzou over Arkansas any day.

Arkansas had good success in the SWC, competing with the likes of Texas, SMU, etc., and would have been considered a top-tier program back then. They claim 13 SWC championships and a share of the 1964 National Championship with Alabama. However, they were always considered unwelcomed outsiders by the rest of the Texas league, even with their success.

Arkansas football, since its move to the SEC has been always classified as a middle to low tier program. Arkansas basketball had some great seasons, won a NC in 1994 and played again the following year in the N.C. to UCLA (Tyus Edney anyone?).

Recent history is different, however. The older fans still cling to the old SWC football days and consider the team a traditional power (this is not true). Younger fans remember the 80s and early 90s dominance in basketball and think it is easily achievable again (again, a faulty assumption).

All fans know of the recent failures of the basketball teams coached by Stan Heath and John Pelphrey. Both recruited well but never delivered and were in over their heads with fan expectations. Another black mark on the program was when Creighton coach Dana Altman accepted the head job, gave a press conference and called the hogs awkwardly, and then reneged the next day. At the time, the fans couldn't seem to figure out why no "Top Tier" coaches wanted to coach at Arkansas.

Now, the move to bring back Mike Anderson has excited the fans and has made them nostalgic for the "40 min of Hell" that Nolan Richardson brought. By plugging in CMA, Arkansas fans believe that he too can bring them to the promise land like Nolan did (don't think so but time will tell).

Football, until recently, has had some very long seasons as well. The tenure of Danny Ford failed. The Houston Nutt experiment fractured the fan base, too. Nutt endured some reasonable success, but never delivered when he was suppose to win and kept his job by winning when he wasn't supposed to. He had some decent success (won a couple SEC West titles), but most will agree that he was continually out-coached and out-recruited on the big stage and was stubborn to change his offense. It took him years to turn over play calling duties, and when he did, he undermined his OCs at every opportunity. He would take credit for the good calls, laid blame to others for the bad ones.

Then came Nutt’s undoing: He hires a local h.s. coach by the name of Gus Malzahn who literally wrote the book on the spread offense. This move secured the services of Parade All-American QB Mitch Mustain and several top-tier receivers (including Damian Williams). Prior to this move, Nutt was considered on the hot seat after another underperforming season with Felix Jones (Cowboys), Darrin McFadden (Raiders), and Peyton Hillis (Browns) all in the backfield.

The coach butts heads with his new OC and benches Mustain after he started 7-0 for the season. Long story short: Mustain isn't happy and gets his mother involved, an Arkansas booster and a friend of Nutt's sends a strongly worded email to Mustain, a FOIA is put in to obtain Nutt's cell phone records that show hundreds of phone calls and texts to a local female news anchor (implying infidelity). At the end of the season, Arkansas upsets LSU in OT, the Chancellor tries to extend Nutt's contract b/c he won the last game, and Nutt bolts parlays his last win into a new job at Ole Miss. The Chancellor is fired and a new AD comes into to replace the legendary Frank Broyles.

Jeff Long (from Pitt) makes a splash and hires NFL Coach Bobby Petrino. Although the national media skewers Arkansas for hiring a nomadic coach who bolted from the Falcons, I always felt it was a great hire and CBP would soon have Arkansas on the national stage. Within a few short years, CBP has turned the program around and has them contending very well.

This football success has helped Arkansas fans to puff out their collective chests. What I find interesting is the response of Ark fans as it relates to Mizzou and its move to the SEC. The recent success has disillusioned them into forgetting their recent past and has them thinking they are "above" the caliber of Mizzou and are part of the cream of the crop of the SEC. Don't be tricked. The feelings are really founded in the embarrassment during the Nutt years, the inferiority complex created during the SWC days, and the desire to be accepted at the "cool kids table" of the SEC.

Remind them of the scoreboard (38-7) and they will probably talk about recruits they got from Missouri. Talk about Mizzou bball success and they will bring up Matt Painter.

So remember: when Arkansas fans start talking smack remind them of their past, congratulate them on their very recent football success, and tell them that they, just like every other SEC team, rides the coat tails of the top tier programs in the conference and they, just like Mizzou, are not one yet but are working to be there.

Armed with the knowledge I've outlined will help you in your dealings with Hog fans.

This football success has helped Arkansas fans to puff out their collective chests. What I find interesting is the response of Ark fans as it relates to Mizzou and its move to the SEC. The recent success has disillusioned them into forgetting their recent past and has them thinking they are "above" the caliber of Mizzou and are part of the cream of the crop of the SEC. Don't be tricked.

M-I-Z...S-E-C!

So their comeback is "38-7"? OK Scooter. And the "part of the cream of the crop of the SEC"? Yeah, finishing as one of 3 in the SEC out of top 5 in the nation will do that to you. Oh, this next football season will be glorious. What a smarmy LOLMiss-esque doosh.

Watching them in conference play next season will be like watching Pvt Pyle in the first 30 minutes of Full Metal Jacket. Somebody needs to start a LOL MO thread to track the wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Some of this is true. Some of it is factually incorrect (his timeline with the Jeff Long hire and the Houston Nutt departure for example), and some is just homerish spin, which is tolerable since fans are supposed to be homers to an extent.

I think his point is this:

Arkansas was once a good team in an good conference, then jumped ship to a great conference and proceeded to more of less suck until now. Mizzou was a good team in a good conference, and now has jumped ship to a great conference and will proceed to suck until some indeterminate time in the future when they will no longer suck.

I think that's his point, but if so, it begs the question: Who will be their Bobby Petrino to rescue them from sucking?

Some of this is true. Some of it is factually incorrect (his timeline with the Jeff Long hire and the Hootie departure for example), and some is just homerish spin, which is tolerable since fans are supposed to be homers to an extent.

I think his point is this:

Arkansas was once a good team in an good conference, then jumped ship to a great conference and proceeded to more of less suck until now. Mizzou was a good team in a good conference, and now has jumped ship to a great conference and will proceed to suck until some indeterminate time in the future when they will no longer suck.

I think that's his point, but if so, it begs the question: Who will be their Bobby Petrino to rescue them from sucking?

Sounds like a call for a certain someone interested in People Helpin if I ever heard one.

Some of this is true. Some of it is factually incorrect (his timeline with the Jeff Long hire and the Houston Nutt departure for example), and some is just homerish spin, which is tolerable since fans are supposed to be homers to an extent.

I think his point is this:

Arkansas was once a good team in an good conference, then jumped ship to a great conference and proceeded to more of less suck until now. Mizzou was a good team in a good conference, and now has jumped ship to a great conference and will proceed to suck until some indeterminate time in the future when they will no longer suck.

I think that's his point, but if so, it begs the question: Who will be their Bobby Petrino, rabid fan-base, Wal-Mart, Tyson, et. al. to rescue them from sucking?

Remind them of the scoreboard (38-7) and they will probably talk about recruits they got from Missouri. Talk about Mizzou bball success and they will bring up Matt Painter.

So remember: when Arkansas fans start talking smack remind them of their past, congratulate them on their very recent football success, and tell them that they, just like every other SEC team, rides the coat tails of the top tier programs in the conference and they, just like Mizzou, are not one yet but are working to be there.

Armed with the knowledge I've outlined will help you in your dealings with Hog fans.

M-I-Z...S-E-C!

Translation:

We may suck, but you had a stretch where you sucked, too, and we kicked your ass in that one game after you shitcanned your coach who even we now recognize was no damned good so ignore all the current evidence and don't act like you're better than us even though you are.

Actually, I wouldn't bring up Painter. I'd simply point to the fact they've never even been to a Final 4.

And crowing about beating us in the Cotton Bowl is very Ole Miss-ish...which they should get used to.

Yeah, that guy is pretty comical. I forgot about Painter, I just think it's funny they are ready for us to fail with the coach they wanted and also the coach that built their current team.

I also think it's funny they are proud of that cotton bowl, we just beat them in a bowl a couple of years before that. Which is sad because Houston sucked in bowls but Mizzou was one of only 2 that he won.

They haven't won a conference championship since 1969, in the 90s they are talking about they were happy to go 7-5 in 1996 because it ended a 12 year drought of winning seasons.

I actually had more respect for Missouri athletics until I looked up what they had done in football and basketball and the facts proved they have sucked for a long, long time.

Logged

It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.